dbs cressonnieres



(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. 85. E. DES ORESSONNIERES. PROCESS 0]? AND APPARATUSFOR THE MANUFACTURE OF KNEADED 0R AGGLOMERATED SOAPS.

te'd June 27, 1893.

\ Jimiole 61 .5 C'remstonnz erw turn STATES PAT NT QFFrcE.

ANATOLE DES CRESSONNIERES AND ERNEST DES ORESSONNIERES, OF BRUS- SELS,BELGIUM.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF KNEADED 0R AGGLOMERATEDSOAPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,535, dated June 27,1893.

Application filed June 30, 1892- Serial No. 488,606. (No model.)Patented in Belgium February 12, 1890, No. 89,493: in France February13, 1890, No. 208,775; in England February 14, 1890, No. 2,446 inGermany February 24, 1890, No. 55,065, and

in Austria-Hungary February 24, 1890, No. 9,864 and No. 22,685.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANATOLE DEs CRES- SONNIERES and ERNEST nusCREssoNNIEREs, both of 82 Ohausee de Gand, Brussels, Belgium, haveinvented a new and Improved Process of and Apparatus for the Manufactureof Kneaded or Agglomerated Soaps, (for which we have obtained patents inBelgum February 12, 1890, No. 89,493; in France February 13, 1890, No.203,775; in England February 14, 1890, No. 2,446; in Germany February24, 1890, No. 55,065, and in Austria-Hungary February 24, 1890, No.9,364 and No. 22,685,) of which the following is a specification.

The process at present employed for the manufacture of kneaded oragglomerated soaps is a long and laborious one and is consequentlyexpensive both as regards the requisite manual labor and the expenditureof time and interest on capital employed.

In order to clearly indicate the considerable advantages presented byour improved process over the old method of manufacture, we will shortlyenumerate the various phases of the latter.

When the boiling of the properly proportioned constituents of the masshas been carried out in the usual boilers, the homogeneous mixture isrun out of the latter into suitable refrigerating vessels where it iskept until it is completely hardened. The mass is then cut up into slabsof uniform size and these are divided into bars, which are thentransformed into small shreds by suitable shredding apparatus. Theshreds resulting from this operation are introduced into the dryingapparatus for removing the excess of moisture contained therein, andafter having been dried it is colored and scented, and then crushed orkneaded between iron or granite cylinders in order to produce a perfectincorporation of the material with the scent and the color. Lastly, thekneaded material is subjected to the action of presses from which itissues'in the form of acontinuous compact rope which is cut into piecesof the desired weight which are then pressed into molds to convert theminto cakes of the required form.

These various operations even when carried out under the most favorablecircumstances will, for a quantity of soap such as is usually operatedupon at one time, take from eight to twelve days, according to the timeof year.

Our improved process, which is a continuous one, has for its object todo away with the above-defined expensive and tedious operations; and tothis end consists essentially in laminating by suitable rollers, thehomogeneous mass of liquid soap which is taken from the boiler forfacilitating the drying action,

and subjecting it to the drying action of It is preferable to treat themixheated air.

ture of soap with the requisite colors and scents just after it is takenfrom the boiler and before it is subjected to the laminating process;but with the finer qualities of soap, the scents are more liable toevaporation, and the scenting of the soap is not effected until thematerial is to be introduced into the presses.

heated air for drying the soap.

A suitable shredding device is provided between the laminating rollersand the drying aprons, and a delivery apron is provided to receive thedried soap from the last of the series of drying aprons.

A secondary chamber or inclosure incloses the rear end of the galleryand the ends of the drying aprons and also the delivery apron, andtraversing the outer end of the path of the delivery apron is a cold airconduit, a blower being provided for circulating the hot and cold airfrom said secondary chamber and cold air conduit.

At the forward end of the" hot air conduit is provided an air heater anda fan for circulating the air through the conduit.

In order that our invention may be fully understood we will now describethe same with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent thepreferred form of apparatus.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a plant embodyingour-improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the laminatingapparatus shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 1s a front view of the laminatingapparatus. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the drying gallery and hot airconduit, taken on the line Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail View of one ofthe rollers showing the means for imparting longitudinal movementthereto. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail perspective View showing theconstruction and position of the cutters or shredders hereinafterdescribed. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a transverse section and topplan of the liquid soap feeder.

The liquid soap from the boiler is led into a chute or trough Dsupported at the top of the laminating apparatus and cut away at itsinner face (1.

c is a feed roller supported in suitable journals to rotate in the cutaway portion d of the chute D and feed the liquid soap therefrom to theupper laminating roller. Against the lower side of the feed roller orcylinder 0 bears a guide plate Z, which has a downwardly projecting lipwhich bears against the uppersurface of the first cylinder 0 of thelaminating apparatus. This laminating apparatus consists, firstly, of aseries of cylinders arranged vertically above each other, and secondly,of several other cylinders adjacent to the lowest one of the verticalseries and arranged horizontally; the sup porting frame Bbeing for thispurpose of an gular form, the vertical part being adapted to carry thefour vertical cylinders, while the lower horizontal part is adapted tocarry the three horizontal cylinders. The cylinders might all bearranged vertically, but this would make the machine of inconvenientheight.

The upper cylinders C, O, are not placed exactly in the same verticalplane, but so that their centers lie alternately slightly to the one andthe other side of the vertical plane, so that the points of contact ofthe cylinders also lie alternately to the one and the other sidethereof. They are consequently rendered adjustable by lateraldisplacement, and for this purpose the framing has horizontal guides inwhich are arranged sliding bearings P which can be adjusted by means ofscrews V actuated by bevel wheels E secured to said screws and which areactuated simultaneously by two bevel pinions p fixed one at each end ofeach of the shafts A, and the shafts A are carried in brackets on theframing and rotated by a hand wheel V The same arrangement is employedfor admanner as to gradually effect the lamination in proportion as theweb of soap becomes more solid.

The driving shaft with fast and loose pulleys P imparts motion by pinionP to the middle horizontal cylinder and from this the motion istransmitted by the gearing E to the other cylinders. In addition to thepinion P the driving shaft carries a toothed wheel E corresponding tothe wheel E which drives the first endless wire gauze web T from whichthe lower endless aprons or webs T, T are driven by the intermediatewheels E, E E". In front of the last cylinder are two cutters, orscrapers which serve to cut into shreds the sheet or web of laminatedsoap before they arrive on the upper traveling apron. These cuttersconsist of two metal plates arranged one above the other with theirforward thin edges bearing against the last cylinder 0; the upper bladeW is formed with a serrated edge having a series of small square bladesto, and the lower blade W is formed with a smooth scraping edge. Thescraper W removes one half of the pellicle of soap from the cylinder inthe form of a thin shaving and the lower scraper W removes the remainingshavings of soap, the shavings from both blades sliding down onto thegauze web T.

The apparatus works continuously and the disengaging gear of the drivingpulleys is connected to the regulating valve V in the main supply hopperD before the chute D so as to close this and stop the flow of soap whenthe machine is stopped. This is accomplished by means of the followingmechanism: The bell-crank W of the belt shifter or disengaging gearwhich is operated by any suitable lever W is connected by rod W to abell-crank lever W which in turn is connected by rod W to a lever WVsecu red to the shaft or axis W of the valve V.

M is a hot air chamber surrounding the laminating apparatus, and G is agallery or tunnel extending from the chamber M to the secondary chamberM and inclosing the traveling endless drying aprons between saidchambers. The drying aprons are supported between their end rollers bysuitable idle rollers mjournaled in the supports m. The endless web Tdeposits on the web T, which in turn deposits on the web T T is adelivery apron supported in proper relation to receive the dried soapfrom the apron T v H is a hot air furnace, built up in the masonry H. Atthe base of the furnace in one of the side walls is located anaspirating blower or fan R which forces the heated air from the furnaceout into and through the conduit K which extends under the plant and isopen above throughout its length into the chamber M and gallery G.

S is a vertical cold air conduit extending up through the chamber M andinclosing a portion of the delivering apron.

S is a blower in the top of the chamber M serving to draw the heated airin' through said chamber and the cold air through the conduit S into theflue S 7 Z is an inclined deposit board and Z a receptacle for the soapwhich has been treated. The operative parts may be very convenientlygeared up as indicated in the drawings.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from the abovedescription. The blower R feeds into the conduit K a current of hot airat the temperature of solidification of the liquid paste (50centigrade). The colored and scented liquid mass is fed into the chute Dagainst the feed cylinder 0 and passes therefrom to the laminatingcylinders one after another to the last cylinder, which is covered by athin pellicle of soap. This lamination of the soap is of essentialimportance as it results in breaking the gloss or crust whichcontinually forms on the drying soap and destroys its crystallizationand allows new surfaces to form and the heat to penetrate for separatingthe moisture therefrom. The pellicle of soap is raised from this lastcylinder by means of the scrapers and is cut into shreds or shavingswhich fall upon the first endless apron T, which carries them slowly tothe end of the gallery G where they fall upon the second apron T toreturn under the point of departure and are given up to the third apronT which delivers them finally to the apron of exit T During this tripleprocedure the shavings of soap are continuously in contact with the hotair rising from the conduit K and deprived in the most perfect manner ofall their moisture. The employment of warm air during the first part ofthe operation is for the purpose of preventing the soap, while beinglaminated on the cylinders, from falling to a temperature sensibly lowerthan its point of pasting (50 to 56 centigrade.) The pellicle of soapmust in fact be shortly afterward dried with the aid of a warm aircurrent, and in order that this may be properly accomplished, it isnecessary that the soap shall be as warm as possible, for if it bepermitted to become completely cold, the evaporation cannot take placeuntil after the temperature is brought back to the necessary point,which would consume some time and possibly resultin the deterioration ofthe soap and the altering of its color and the loss of its perfume.Arriving at the apron of exit, the

soap shavings encounter the cold air which is drawn in through theconduit S by the blower S which lowers their temperature in such amanner as to make them of the same temperature as the exterior air whenthey are presented at the exit. The dried shredded soap is then receivedinto a box to be transported to the final manipulations or to beagglomerated into a pudding, the latter notably if the colors andperfumes are still to be mixed with the paste. The whole process, fromthe Howing of the paste to the molding into bricks, is thereforeabsolutely continuous.

In order to still further facilitate the desiccation and also forpreventing streakincss or want of uniformity in the coloration of themass, the cylinders, or one or more thereof may have a longitudinal toand fro motion imparted to them, whereby the surface of the sheet ofsoap passing between them will be roughened or furrowed thereby bothbreaking up any streaks and facilitating the evaporation of themoisture. This movement may be imparted to the cylinders by means ofcams G2 on their shafts against which bear fixed studs G on thesupports, as shown in Fig. t.

The direction of the travel of the sheet of soap through the machine isindicated by a dotted line X in Fig. 1.

It will be readily seen that the saving in labor, time, and interest oncapital afforded by the improved process is very great and that theinvention is consequently of considerable commercial importance. Theseadvantages are derived principally from the continuity of the operationof laminating and drying. The drying is facilitated and expedited bytreating the soap just after it has been laminated and by carefullymaintaining it at a high temperature. This permits the shortening of theperiod during which the soap remains in the drying chamber and avoidsits deterioration as well as the alteration of its color and scent whichwould be the consequence of too long exposure of it to the heat. Thelamination takes place gradually in proportion as the soap takes a moresolid and perfect consistency. Last-1y, the drying takes placeimmediately after the lamination of the soap before ithas had time tobecome covered with a hardened gloss or crust, and takes place under themost favorable conditions.

Having thus fully described our invention and the manner of carrying thesame into practice, the following is what we claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The herein described process ofmanufacturing kneaded or agglomerated soap, which consists insimultaneously laminating the liquid soap for breaking the gloss orcrust as fast as it forms and facilitating the escape of moisture, andsubjecting it to the action of heated air, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein described process of manufac- ITO . turing kneaded oragglomerated soap, which consists in continuouslylaminatingtheliquidsoap for facilitating the escape of moisture, maintaining the soap at atemperature approximating its pasting point during the laminatingoperation for partially drying it, and finally treating the partiallydried soap with heated air for completely drying the same, substantiallyas set forth.

3. Theherein described process of manufacturing kneaded or agglomeratedsoap, which consists in gradually and continuously laminating the liquidsoap, for facilitating the escape of moisture, treating the laminatingsoap with heated air for maintaining it at a temperature approximatingits pasting point and partially drying the soap, shredding the partlydried soap, and finally treating the shredded soap with heated air forcompleting the drying action, as set forth.

at. The herein described process of manufacturing kneaded oragglomerated soap, which consists in gradually and continuouslylaminating the liquid soap for facilitating the escape of moisture,treating the laminating soap with heated airto maintain it at the propertemperature, and partially dry it, shredding the partially driedlaminated soap, treating the shredded soap with heated air to completethe drying action, and finally treating the dried soap with cold airbefore it is deposited, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

5. The herein-described process of man ufacturing kneaded oragglomerated soaps, which consists in simultaneously laminating andfurrowing the liquid soap for breaking the gloss or crust as fast as itforms and facilitating the escape of moisture, and subjecting it to theaction of heated air, substantially as set forth.

6. In an apparatus for the manufacture of soap, the combination of thelaminating rollers, the feed chute D supported above said rollers andcut out on one side, the feed roller 0 operating in said cutout portionof the chute, the shredding plates or scrapers, the drying aprons, andmeans for supplying heated air, substantially as set forth.

7. In an apparatus for the manufacture of soap, the combination with thelaminating rollers, and the drying aprons, of the scraper platessupported in working relation to one of said rollers and adapted todeposit the soap on the drying aprons; the upper one of said scrapersbeing formed with a serrated scraping edge and the lower one withasmooth scraping edge, substantially as set forth.

8. In an apparatus for the manufacture of soap, the combination of aseries of laminating rollers, means for supplying liquid soap thereto,drying aprons supported in proper relation to the rollers, scrapers forremoving the soap from the rollers and transferring it to the aprons,the hot air chamber inclosing the grinding and laminating rollers, a hotair gallery extending from the chamber and inclosing the drying aprons,the hot air conduit arranged under the chamber and gallery, and meansfor supplying hot air to the conduit, as set forth.

ANATOLE DES CRESSONNIERES. ERNEST DES CRESSONNIERES. Witnesses:

AUG. J onmssnu, GREGORY PHELAN.

